Delirium
by Pencilwalla
Summary: Oneshot. KK. AU. Part 1 of the Garden of Heaven series. In a room as dark as a moonless night, a cold stricken Kaoru recieves a kiss from a stranger.


_**Delirium**_

She was the last thing he'd expected to find, the last thing he needed on top of everything else. And yet, on one of the most eventful nights of his life, despite the battles and the secrets and bloody wounds both sides nursed, the memory that stood out most was of her.

It was a memory of sleepy blue eyes and messy black hair, of confusion and fever and quiet coughing. She was just a girl with a cold. And yet he couldn't think of her as just anything.

Nursing his wounded arm, he'd only wanted to stop, hide, and speed-heal the bones before he was attacked again. Before the minions lurking in the shadows, although not as skillfully as he, came after him and his blood trail. The dark, secluded wood, with its winding path partially hidden by the autumn rain of leaves, had seemed the best place to conceal himself. The dojo at the end of the road was even better, containing only sleeping woman. The last place anyone would look for him- if at all. He had left plenty of false tracks to lead his pursuers astray.

But as he slid silently through the window and closed the drapes behind him, as he drew all the light out of the room and replaced it with the abyss of shadow, he heard a quiet cough.

He had felt her before he'd seen her, his night vision still adjusting to the sudden gloom. She couldn't see him, but she had known he was there, somehow. The rustling of blankets and more soft coughing filled the room. The scent of jasmine lingered here, at odds with the bitter cold of the November night.

He'd forgotten his own wounds at the sound of her illness. The blood dripping from his arm was suddenly irrelevant, and the only thing that really mattered was the fever that ailed her. It seemed ironic to him, that the burning fever that made him strong- that protected him from illness and infection- should make someone else dizzy with fatigue,

Unbidden, he moved to her side, leaning over her. She glanced around herself, nervous and confused, unaware of his presence so close. She was blind in the shadow he had cloaked her room in, and she had to have noticed the utter and complete blackness. Still she seemed to know he was here.

She was sheltering him, unwittingly. It was only right he repay her hospitality. With unseeing eyes, she looked right through him, and then lay back down, exhausted by even those few seconds exertion.

With a smile she would never see, he bent and kissed the corner of her mouth. The unnatural heat of her forehead faded, and the sickly color of her face returned to normal. The cold didn't last long in his blood, chased out by his own permanent fever.

Long, dark eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly, softly and delicately. Swiftly, he exited the room the way he had entered, letting the moonlight and starlight seep back in. Her eyes opened an instant too late, and her hand touched her face where he had just kissed her.

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At dawn, Kaoru Kamiya woke from a fitful slumber. She had awoken in what she thought was delirium once during the night, but now, in the glow of the sunrise, she felt no trace of the cold that had plagued her last night. A faint tingle seemed to linger on her face, as though there were sparks hidden under her skin.

Glancing down at the blankets twisted around her legs, she saw something that had not been there when she went to bed last night.

A bouquet of white carnations and lavender roses, bound with black ribbon. The sweet scent of the flowers perfumed the air, mingling with the ever-present jasmine from the indoor vines she grew everywhere.

Breathing in the sweet smell, she thought again to last night. There had been a strange dream, and she was certain she'd seen a pair of strangely colored eyes looking down on her.

It was ridiculous, but the thought of her mysterious admirer never left her mind as she set the flowers in a vase and prepared to leave for work.

On the roof of a small cottage on the other side of the city, Kenshin Himura idly played with a raven's feather. It was as black as her hair, he remembered, and smiled at the thought. He hadn't left her a card, but it didn't matter.

He would see her again, he was sure of it.

**End**

**This plot bunny...is all the chicken's fault. They made me write it! I should be working on TI right now. I should not be writing this one-shot. Or the sequel to TI (which is actually partially written already). But it's so hard...**

**Hopefully those of you who are waiting for TI will whet your appetites on this. I had fun writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it.**


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